Taira Tomomori

Taira Tomomori (1152-1185) was a Japanese samurai who was the Commissioner for Warfare for the Fukuhara Taira branch of the Taira clan. Fighting in the Gempei Wars, he committed suicide in the Battle of Dan-no-Ura.

Biography
Taira Tomomori was the outstanding Taira commander in the Gempei Wars. He was the son of the clan leader, Taira Kiyomori, who had established the first samurai government in Japan in 1160 and massacred or banished the leaders of the Minamoto clan.

In 1180 the Minamoto attempted a comeback, supporting another candidate to the imperial throne, Prince Mochihito. Taira Tomomori hunted down Mochihito and his Minamoto bodyguard, defeating them at the First Battle of Uji and killing the prince shortly afterward.

Tomomori had further successes in 1181, beating off a night attack by Minamoto Yukiie at Sunomata and pursuing him to Yahagigawa, where the Taira forces again came off best. When the tide of war turned against the Taira from 1183, Tomomori remained successful, making a skillful defense of fortresses around Japan's Inland Sea. At Mizushima, in 1183, he intercepted a Minamoto army being ferried across, his samurai fighting on the decks of oared galleys. When the vanquished Minamoto soldiers fled to shore, Tomomori's samurai caught them on horses they had carried on board.



The last battle of the war at Dan no Ura, in 1185, was also at sea. Forced to fight a larger Minamoto fleet, Tomomori nearly triumphed by his knowledge of local tides. But in the end, he was defated and, like many of his warriors, committed suicide. He tied himself to an anchor and plunged to his death, flanked by a retainer and his mistress.